Resting On An Echo
by cherrygurl1225
Summary: [Birthday gift fic for DixieSiryn] The voice he loves remains resting on an echo, a quiet reverberation coupled with sorrowful despair. Takes place directly after the Season 3 finale.


**Haven: Resting On An Echo**

* * *

**Author's Note: **A very belated birthday gift fic for DixieSiryn. Happy Birthday! I've wanted to write this fic for awhile and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Enjoy!

* * *

Her breath softly whispers against the shell of his ear. The voice he loves remains resting on an echo, a quiet reverberation coupled with sorrowful despair.

"Duke, you've always been so good to me," Audrey murmurs. "I'm sorry I won't remember you when I come back."

He can almost _feel_ her smile.

"Especially Colorado."

He doesn't want to let her go and, obviously, neither does Nathan. But he understands. He understands her burden, her sacrifice, her dilemma.

"You're in love with her, too." Nathan reads Duke's face with careful honesty, surprised to uncover this revelation.

"Yeah," Duke admits quietly, stealing a glance at Audrey when Nathan asks how he's able to let her go.

_I can't._ _But I have to. _

After Audrey disappears into the Barn, the cacophonous sound of a gunshot pierces Duke's eardrums. Only seconds later does he realize that Nathan's been shot.

He pulls his friend down to sit on the grass and listens to his labored, heavy breathing.

The Barn gradually starts to disintegrate and Nathan's voice commands him.

"Get her, Duke. Go. Save her."

Right before the Barn completely disintegrates with no evidence of it left behind, Duke runs. He jumps into the unknown abyss as it swallows him whole.

For the woman he loves. For Audrey.

* * *

He opens his eyes to darkness, an endless expanse that surrounds him. His head throbs incessantly as he puts a hand to his forehead, hoping to rub away some of the unwelcome tension.

When the throbbing dissipates, one word springs to mind.

_Audrey._

He starts walking, taking hesitant steps in the darkness until a miniscule amount of light filters into his line of vision. Following the tiny beam of light, he keeps walking.

_Is the Barn always this dark after she goes in?_ He wonders.

Suddenly, he stops. Call it smuggler's instinct, but he firmly plants his feet on the solid floor of the Barn, not taking another step forward.

He crouches down in place and his eyes widen as he barely makes out the silhouette of Audrey's body. Her back faces him and she seems unconscious.

He takes a moment to collect his thoughts.

_Irony with a Haven twist, _he muses. He thinks about when he first met her, how he had taken her unconscious body out of the raging water and laundered her wet clothes.

The beginning.

This is the ending. (Or is it?)

He thinks about how he came to trust her, respect her, how she changed him. How this sassy federal agent turned police detective crept her way into the hidden crevices of his heart.

Her words still rest on an echo in his mind.

"_Especially Colorado."_

He remembers the way her mouth crushed against his, the lingering intoxication of beer as their breaths collided. He remembers the way her fingers ran up his arms and curled into his dark locks of hair. How his lips trailed a line of kisses into the curve of her neck and the way she breathed in, welcoming the scent and the feeling of him into her body. And then, she had pulled back. Away from him.

Muttered something about screwing up a friendship and rushed out, disappearing behind the screen door.

Still, he recalls reaching for her, hand outstretched, breath eager with longing.

The memories of that kiss and that night in Colorado remain resting on an echo, the sweet whisper of her soft voice.

He knows she chose Nathan. But he chose _her._

(Shouldn't that matter?)

Gazing at her prone form, he leans forward. Brushing excess strands of blonde hair away from her closed eyes, he studies the intricate features of her face.

"Audrey," he whispers urgently. "Please wake up."

He rolls her gently from her side to her back and she begins to stir, a low, soft moan escaping her lips.

His large hand gently cups the side of her face as she comes to.

Whether or not she loves him back, it doesn't matter in this moment. He had made a promise to Nathan and to himself. He will save her. He will keep her safe.

"Audrey," his voice wavers.

Her eyes flicker, scanning and seeking desperately for any sign of recognition. Her eyes trace the contours of his face repeatedly as if trying to commit something unfamiliar to memory.

Duke's heart races, panic churning inside of him.

_She doesn't remember…_

His warm fingers caress her cheek gently, lovingly, as their eyes finally meet.

"Duke?"

(Her voice remains resting on an echo. And suddenly, he can breathe again.)

_Fin. _


End file.
